The next major innovation in Wi-Fi (6G Wi-Fi) will be the emergence of the 802.11ad standard, which operates in the 60-gigahertz band and offers tremendous speed improvements, though has a shorter transmission range, Hurlston said. He called 802.ad a "revolution," as opposed to the "evolution" offered by 802.11ac.

Chips supporting 802.11ad (60 gigahertz) will be available in 2012. However, meaningful adoption of 802.11ad will take a few years.